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What a whirlwind summer! We had a great time on our road trip and have been busy on the house since our return. I haven't had time (or a clean photo table) to get photos of my threads, embroidery, beadwork or beady souvenirs since I got home. BUT! Yesterday, I got the studio sink clean and the next 4 hours might see the dye/photo table reclaimed.

I've been thinking about jewelry photography because I have to re-do all of mine this fall. Plus I have lots of new beadwork to shoot.

We are leaving in 11 days for a cross-country road trip. I'm both excited and terrified. Financially, this trip make NO sense but it is Molly's last summer at home and Maxx is old enough now that he is excited about seeing new things (like Mt. Rushmore and the Grand Canyon) We've been putting it off for far too long and it is just time to GO.

large acanthus filigree motif

I'm nervous about a lot of things - you know, getting in a wreck, having our money run out too fast, one of the kids disappearing - but realistically, those things could happen here at home. In fact, the money running out too fast happens all the time around here and I just deal with it! :)

But one thing I am really concerned about is living without my beads for 4 weeks. EEEK! I'm having SO much fun with Right Angle Weave making Splendid Caterpillar Bracelets.

The Jeep is pretty big but I really can't justify taking everything I want to have. Plus I'm not sure how much work time I will actually have.

Green Twisted Drop Beads

I am putting together a small batch of beads, threads, pre-pieced crazy quilt fabrics and hand dyed stuff to work with on the trip. I'll post photos of my travel palette before I pack them in the Jeep.

I bought a beadalon tacky mat from Shipwreck beads. It looks pretty nifty - they are made of the same sticky stuff as those gum-dispenser toys that you throw against the window and watch them slowly "crawl" down.

They are tacky without being sticky and are supposed to hold a layer of beads in place without getting adhesive on them. They are also supposed to be "rechargable" by washing with water. We'll see how well it works on the trip!

beadalon tacky mat

lavender opal 4mm firepolished rounds

I've gotten a bit behind on listing new inventory in my shops. Things got piled up this winter and I'm just now starting to get stuff sorted out. I am planning to re-vamp GoblinsMarket over at ArtFire when we return to accommodate traffic from GoblinsMarket.org. Yes - I plan to actually put that url to use in 2012 - finally!

Anyway - what you're really looking for is coupon info, right? (I hope so! I want to send out a few more sparklies to be well loved this summer before I put them all away for a month.)

So here's the deal. I will be closing all of my ArtFire and Etsy shops for the month of July starting Monday or Tuesday next week so the coupons are good for this weekend.

Over at ArtFire, use the coupon code ROADTRIP for 20% off orders over $30.00. (Don't forget to sign in and comment on items to get additional discounts!)

At Etsy, use the coupon code ROADTRIP2012 for a 10% discount on your total order, regardless of the amount spent.

Neither of the shops is fully loaded so if you see something in one that isn't in the other that you would like to purchase, let me know and I will set it up for you. But hurry! After this weekend, My whole will be bent towards getting us out of the house and on the road on time.

Molly will be blogging the trip over at the Beorningstead blog and I will try to keep you updated about how creation on the road is going now and then. Have a gorgeous summer!

I've been hibernating for a looong time. Life is busy and changes are afoot for my online shops.

More about all of that later.

Here's the thing - the Beornings are taking a road trip this summer. (Yay!)

I've got about 5 weeks to get us ready, including packing up my studio. We have a family coming to stay in our home and keep Zig-wiggy and Grainne company while we are gone and they have some extra-small people who might like to eat beads. So, all the beads and sparklies will get packed during the last week of June and stored in a secure location.

I'd love to have some mad money to buy new beads while I'm away (we might - if we're lucky & frugal) make it all the way to Shipwreck Beads' showroom in Washington! So, I'm offering everyone a coupon code to my ArtFire Baublebilities shop. Starting Friday you get 20% of all orders over $30.00 shipping anywhere in the world. Use the code ROADTRIP at checkout.

Sadly, I am still out of dragonflies. The lag time on getting those buggers in is maddening.

But I did get new beads and findings recently as you can see and you will start seeing those appear there in the next few days. (Though I may have to re-photograph them - this background is just not working any magic for me now that I see them loaded up here.)

(And I may have to steal my other daylight lamp back from the chicks - The light isn't quite right with just three.)